Please everyone, have a listen to this song. It's called "Better the Devil" by Tim Skold (or SKOLD to his fans). In the beginning, there's an audio recording of a woman in an interview who says "Uh... do I seem happy in life?... uh... uuuh, let's see..." Then half way through the song, the same woman says: "...even if I feel like it or not, I'll try to make the effort to make contact with people around me..."

Turns out that woman was Marylin Manroe. Here's the interview:

Essentially, Manroe tells the interviewer that she isn't happy in life, that she's at her happiest when she's able to fulfill a scene, and that perhaps she gets enjoyment out of the pursuit of happiness. And that if she's generally anything, she's generally miserable.

In 1962, Marylin Manroe died from a barbiturate overdose at the age of 36.

Tim Skold used to be the bass player in Marylin Manson. <-- Guess where Marylin Manson got half his name from.

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rationalAlso just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention- surreptitious75

The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational. Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.- encode_decode

Is that a demon slug in your stomach or are you just happy to see me?- Rick Sanchez

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rationalAlso just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention- surreptitious75

The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational. Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.- encode_decode

Is that a demon slug in your stomach or are you just happy to see me?- Rick Sanchez

Marilyn Manson tells us that the name "Marilyn Manson" was inspired by the paradoxical obsession society has over two polar opposites: glamour and psychopathy--glamour being represented by Marilyn Monroe and psychopathy being represented by Charles Manson.

Monroe was definitely an icon of glamour, the most famous sex symbol of the twentieth century according to most sources. And yet the interview with her betrays a sadness that wasn't usually seen, a despair masked by a superficial smile.

Tim Skold, even after breaking from Marilyn Manson, seems to continue the tradition, at least in his song Better the Devil. His style of darkness has always seemed to be about "death" and "nothingness" and "nihilism". He sings:

"I see the cut, but I still can't feel the fucking pain." <-- numbness

"Between these walls there's a tiny chance I could refrainBelow black stars an even smaller chance I will complain."

^ This part in particular makes me think of the life of Marilyn Monroe. As sad as Monroe was, she doesn't once complain. In the interview, she says she tries to find happiness by fulfilling her roll, her Barbie Doll roll, trying to find happiness by wearing an almost plastic-like smile, as if she might hold it for a bit longer, strain her facial muscles a bit harder, and finally happiness will appear. The idea, as I interpret it, is that most of us are the walking dead, empty shells in which there was once a living spirit. Sooner or later, society crushes the spirit, like snowflakes under a boot, and we lose the will to even complain about the rolls we're forced into, to refrain from accepting them. Any will to resist, to complain, was obviously wiped out of Monroe long before the interview. In the interview, it is obvious that she not only accepts the roll of Barbie Doll sex symbol, but actually believes it will bring her happiness. She believes society when it tells her: you will find happiness in this roll. Her individuality has been snuffed out and replaced by the Borg like higher intelligence which is the voice of society itself tell us where our happiness lies.

It wasn't until the sixties, only a few years after Monroe's (probable) suicide, during second wave feminism, that women started to complain--and loudly--a decade that shattered the social glass like nothing before, that woke us up spiritually like no other era in history.

I wonder if this is what Skold was getting at with this song. If so, one might wonder whether Skold, and perhaps Manson himself, are really closet case feminists.

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rationalAlso just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention- surreptitious75

The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational. Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.- encode_decode

Is that a demon slug in your stomach or are you just happy to see me?- Rick Sanchez

MagsJ wrote:Funny how Marilyn Manson dated Dita Von Teese and other chic ladies, but there was nothing chic about him.. some say it's all publicity.. a PR relationship.

I don't think it's all publicity... maybe 50/50... 50% real, 50% exaggeration. There are plenty of other ways to get publicity.

If it was 100% publicity, that's still pretty fucked up. I can't imagine Brian Warner being an upstanding law-biding citizen who just wants what's right for children while at the same time making a career out of this life style.

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rationalAlso just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention- surreptitious75

The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational. Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.- encode_decode

Is that a demon slug in your stomach or are you just happy to see me?- Rick Sanchez

MagsJ wrote:Funny how Marilyn Manson dated Dita Von Teese and other chic ladies, but there was nothing chic about him.. some say it's all publicity.. a PR relationship.

I don't think it's all publicity... maybe 50/50... 50% real, 50% exaggeration. There are plenty of other ways to get publicity.

If it was 100% publicity, that's still pretty fucked up. I can't imagine Brian Warner being an upstanding law-biding citizen who just wants what's right for children while at the same time making a career out of this life style.

I think people are just a lot more fucked up than we imagine.

Gib ... your post sounds a bit harsh for the Mr Nice Guy of ILP

Did someone shit in your corn flakes this morning? ... me?

"Do not be influenced by the importance of the writer, and whether his learning be great or small; but let the love of pure truth draw you to read. Do not inquire, “Who said this?” but pay attention to what is said”

It is impossible for a human being to go through life not thinking irrationally even if they think of themselves as rationalAlso just as irrational decisions are not always bad then rational ones are not always good no matter what the intention- surreptitious75

The rating of rationality can be higher and always is higher than the person trying to be rational. Rationality is less emotional than the person delivering it.- encode_decode

Is that a demon slug in your stomach or are you just happy to see me?- Rick Sanchez